Babysitting Darcy Lewis
by Wittyheroine
Summary: So what if Darcy Lewis spent her internship fighting off Aliens? That does not mean she needs protection even if the guy has really great arms. ClintxDarcy.
1. GI Joe Wannabes

Babysitting Darcy Lewis by Cambria Covell

_So what if Darcy Lewis spent her internship fighting off Aliens? That does not mean she needs protection even if the guy has really great arms. ClintxDarcy._

If there was one thing Darcy Lewis was known for it was not keeping her mouth shut. She liked to make her opinion known about things which was exactly why she had had no problem marching into the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in New Mexico (who knew there was one in every state?) and demanding to be let into Agent Phil Coulson's office.

"Miss Lewis, I'm afraid he's in a meeting," said his secretary who looked like she was about ready to grab her stapler in self-defense. Darcy glared.

"You're lying. I can tell because you won't look me directly in the eyes. My little brother does the same thing every time he's done something wrong. Now let me through or I will find other ways if I have to."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but he really is in a-"

Darcy stormed past the woman's desk, ignoring her attempts at getting her attention. She knocked hard on the door. "Phil Freaking Coulson if you don't get your ass out here I am going to Tase you from here into next Wednesday! I mean it. I'm a research assistant. I can find out where you live and-"

The door opened suddenly, revealing Agent Coulson standing there looking completely calm despite the fact that there was a twenty year-old girl shouting death threats at him outside his door. "Hello, Miss Lewis. It's ah…nice to see you again but this is really inappropriate. I'm in the middle of a meeting and I've got more important things to do then to argue with you on the whereabouts of your IPod."

She frowned. "This isn't actually about that but I do still want that back now that you mention it. This is about the G.I. Joe wannabe that's been following me around."

Coulson raised an eyebrow. "I honestly don't have any idea what you are referring to Miss-"

"That's enough, Coulson," said a booming voice that made Darcy jump. Behind her was a tall man with perfect military posture, a long, black, leather jacket and an eye patch. Darcy froze. She'd seen Nick Fury on the news before and had always thought he had an imposing presence. In real life, he was downright scary. "Miss Lewis here obviously knows what's going on.

such a good idea?" I think it's about time that we tell her the truth."

"Sir?" Coulson looked at his superior. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't see any harm in her knowing that she's being protected. In fact it might do her some good. Maybe she'll think twice about doing something stupid," said Fury.

Darcy blinked. "Wait, protected? What the fuck?"

Coulson sighed. "But Thor requested that they didn't know."

"Well Thor isn't here now is he?" said Fury. "Miss Lewis, I'm surprised that you're surprised for someone who is so perceptive. Of course you're being watched. You were part of a secret government related incident. What part of that doesn't say 'I-need-protection'?"

"The part where I didn't ask for it," snapped Darcy, "and aside from that your undercover guy really, really sucks at not being noticed."

"Funny. Agent Barton's one of our best. What makes you say that?" Fury asked.

She pointed at her chest. "He kept on staring at my rack. It's a little hard not to notice creepy guys staring at your rack when they follow you EVERYWHERE. I'm pretty sure he almost went into the bathroom with me once."

"Oh well…we'll uh, talk to him about boundaries," said Phil, "but really Miss Lewis it is for your own protection. Loki's whereabouts are unknown and we can't risk something happening to you. It could ruin our alliance with Asgard."

Darcy laughed. "Maybe if I was Jane but I'm just the girl who keeps her fed and makes sure she sleeps once and a while. I'm not anything special so just take the guard dog off."

"Not a chance," said Director Fury, "and if you ever want to be something more than Jane Fosters lab assistant after you graduate I suggest you do as I say or else."

Darcy swallowed. She was almost certain Director Fury couldn't shoot laser beams out of his eyes but it was a theory she really didn't want to test…especially since it looked like he actually might. His good eye was starting to twitch. "Yeah…fine. But I have conditions."

Nick Fury titled his head to the side, looking almost amused. Well, as amused as Fury could be. "And those would be?"

"Tell your agent that if he's going to keep on staring at my rack he'd better buy me dinner," said Darcy, "and I want my IPod back."

Phil Coulson sighed, making Darcy jump a little. She had almost forgotten that he was in the room. "Miss Lewis, for the millionth time, we do not have your IPod."

She put her hands over her hips and gave him a dirty look. "Uh-huh. Sure ya don't. IPod or I tell Jane about your little deal with Thor. She might look tiny but she owns a van that she can't drive. She likes to run people over in it a lot. Ask her boyfriend."

Director Fury rolled his eyes. Or was it eye? Darcy didn't really want to think about the technicalities of it all. "We'll see what we can do about the IPod. Now Miss Lewis, I believe you have a ten o' clock chemistry class that you're trying not to fail that you're running late for. You might want to get to that."

Darcy looked down at her watch and swore as she realized that he was right. She gave Phil and the Director a mock salute, and then quickly ran out the door.

What she didn't realize was that Clint Barton, her "wannabe G.I. Joe" had been up in the rafters the whole time watching. When he came down, Fury looked at him with a little bit of a smile.

"I see what you mean. The girl doesn't have a problem standing up for herself," he said.

"She's trouble," said Barton, "she's got that antsy look in her eyes soldiers get when they've gone through something they can't talk about. She'll crack if she doesn't have some support."

"So," said Director Fury, "be that support."

"Sir?" said Barton, confused.

"If she's going to spill her guts I would rather it be to one of our own then whatever frat boy she's dating or worse her next facebook status."

"With all due respect Director Fury, I'm an agent. I'm not a babysitter or a gal pal."

"You are now Barton. Make the most of it. Just make sure she doesn't talk. Now come on Coulson, I believe you and I have to find an IPod." Fury left the room before Clint had a chance to argue anymore.

The last thing he wanted was to be stuck following a college student. He was an agent. He had more important things that he needed to be doing then following around a mouthy research assistant who knew too much for her own good. Even if she did have a damn good rack.

Clint looked helplessly at Phil who just smiled. "Have fun Barton. She's your headache now."

"Screw you Coulson," he said as his boss chuckled on his way out. Barton sighed. He guessed he was going to have to be more careful so that it wasn't so obvious he was staring at her. He also wondered if she was serious about that dinner. Following Darcy Lewis was going to be the death of him. He was sure of it.

_A/N: So….I am not completely sure where I'm going with this. It may or may not get a second chapter depending on if I can actually think of one. I just felt like writing some Avengers fanfiction. Let me know what you think. _


	2. Introductions

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. I just write fanfiction to toy with peoples emotions and because its fun. ;) _

_****_The next morning when Darcy was getting her coffee on campus she noticed the G.I. Joe Wannabe watching her again. He really sucked at being a secret body guard. The barista in front of her had just handed her the cup of black coffee she'd ordered when she made up her mind to tell him so.

She strode over to where Clint was sitting not far from her, making him raise an eyebrow. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"I am ending this stupidity because you are _crap _at it."

"I'm a highly trained assassin. I'm one of the top agents at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"So I've heard but just because you can kill people well doesn't mean you can stalk them."

Clint frowned. "I'm not stalking."

"When you start looking at my boobs its called stalking."

"I didn't-"

She gave him a 'yeah right' look that made him stare into his own coffee cup. "Uh-huh. Don't try to lie to me. I've been dealing with horny bastards since the sixth grade. I know when someones looking at the jugs. So if you want to keep on staring you're going to have to give me a first name because I can't just call you Agent Dude."

He tapped his fingers on the table, suddenly antsy. This was uncharted territory. Typically he didn't speak with the people he was supposed to protect. He was supposed to be a shadow. That was it….but Fury had said that he needed to "be that person" for her if she needed to talk about what had happened. So maybe things would be okay….

He could do his job and keep his distance.

Darcy cleared her throat to get his attention again. "I'm waiting, G.I. Joe Boy."

"Clint," he said, "Clint Barton."

"Well Clint, Clint Barton. It's nice to meet you. I'm Darcy Lewis. How about I buy you a drink?"

"Miss Lewis I don't think that'd be appropri-"

"Oh c'mon. I'm Jane's research assistant and I know full well I drive her crazy sometimes. I can only imagine the headache you're going to have if you're in charge of keeping my butt alive. The least I can do is get you your caffeine fix. Plus you're cups almost empty and I've still got another hour before class."

Clint sighed. There would be no saying no to the girl in front of him. "Fine. I guess a drink would be good."

Darcy grinned. "Black, right?"

"Right," he said.

"I'll be back."

As he walked away he found himself staring at her. He was in a strange predicament. He'd been asked to keep people safe before. Politicians, billionaires, and even a celebrity or two. But it was rare. Usually he was killing them. Usually they weren't college girls who made him think dirty things in his head and feel like a bastard for it given how young she was.

It was a couple of minutes before she returned and placed the coffee in front of him. "There you go. Now you'll stay awake long enough to help me study for the science test I've got to make up."

Clint nearly spilled the drink he'd been about to take a sip of. _"What?" _

"Hey if you're going to sit there watching me you're going to do something productive while doing it. Because I don't know if you've noticed Muscles McGee, but you're pretty hot and I won't be able to study if you're just sitting there looking."

He chuckled. "Oh hell, you're trying to kill me aren't you?"

She grinned. "Maybe. Now come on. I've got flash cards and everything."

Clint spent the next fifty minutes before her class helping her memorize stuff that didn't even sound like English to him. He wasn't even sure if she understood it but either way, Darcy had somehow managed to not only make him her "babysitter" but her study buddy as well.

If the girl could get him to agree to that he wasn't sure he wanted to know what else she could get him to agree to….or maybe he did.

A/N: I'm still working out a plot with this one. I swear something will actually happen besides just them. But fanfiction tends to come to me randomly. I don't plan it at all. But I hope you like it either way. :)


	3. Nightmares

Babysitting Darcy Lewis

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. 

Chapter Three: _Nightmares_

Since Darcy knew that Clint was her paid stalker, there was no point in trying to hide it anymore. After their first official meeting in the student coffee shop where she had made him her study buddy it seemed the girl was intent on integrating him into her life.

"You can't just be the weird guy hanging out in the shadows," Darcy told him that first day, "I tend to tase them." He had only laughed and shook his head in response.

But he wasn't surprised that she had made it a habit of looking for him wherever she went. Or that she waved at him even though she knew it pissed him off. "What part of undercover don't you understand?" he had asked her the first day she did it.

"The part where I don't need a watchdog," she said, "I'm hoping that if I annoy you enough you'll go away."

"Ah. So that was why you made me be your study partner."

"That and you've got damn fine arms. I wanted to look at them up close. Anyway, have fun sitting in the back pretending to do whatever while my government teacher bores me. If that doesn't get you to quite I don't know what will." She winked at him, and then headed into her class. He followed afterwards and took a seat in the back.

She was right about the lecture. It had been boring. But his view had been excellent even if he had only been staring at the back of her head…

About a week in, Darcy had gone to the library to study. Clint had sat at a nearby table to keep an eye on her like always. He had had a cup of coffee in his hand, and an IPod that was playing Bob Dylan. _"…don't have any inclination to look back on any mistake, like Cane I now behold this chain of events I must break, in the fury of the moment I see my master's hand, in every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand…" _

He hadn't slept in a few days and the music was making him drowsy. He caught Darcy looking at him knowingly. The young girl gathered her books, and he got up to move, but she surprised him by taking the seat across from him.

She didn't say anything. She just kept on studying.

He stared at her. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged. "You look tired."

"So?"

"So you clearly need some sleep."

"I have to watch you."

"You don't if I'm right here. How much trouble can I get into if I'm two feet away?"

He shook his head. "You'd be surprised."

"Look dude, I'm reading about monarchies and allegorical governments. Its totes boring but unless some long dead dictator from the past rises from the dead and tries to kill me I should be fine. Take a nap. I swear I won't tell agent asshat."

Clint almost smiled. Almost, except that he knew Phil would kill him if he did. "Agent asshat?"

"He has my IPod damn it. Until then he doesn't get a real name."

"Huh." He kept on staring at her. She went back to her notes but when she noticed that he was still watching she frowned at him.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Lewis…"

"I mean it. Sleep or else I'll knock you out with my taser if I have to. I mean it. I keep it in my pocket at all times."

He found it hard to believe that he was being pushed around by a tiny, little college girl. Still, he knew that if he didn't do as she said he would probably find himself unconscious. He relented, then used his arms as a pillow and went to sleep.

Sleep wasn't something Clint was fond of doing though. When he slept, he dreamed, and the dreams of an assassin were anything but peaceful.

In his dreams he saw a man who wore a uniform of red. One of his ears was missing and he had a red eye made from a lazer beam. He was staring directly at him. The man's gaze left Clint feeling chilled to the bone.

"Cross?" he asked, his voice hollow sounding when he did.

"You killed me Barton. You killed me," said the man.

"I had to! You were doing illegal missions, using government agency resources for your own gain-"

"You're a killer. You're a killer and you're going to kill her just like you killed me."

The man, who was William Cross, an ex C.I.A. agent that Clint had had dealings with in the past, quickly put him in a chokehold before he had a chance to move. "Clint…Clint…Clint!"

Clint felt someone shaking him. He started awake to find Darcy staring at him with concern. "Hey are you alright? What was that?"

"What was what?" Clint asked, unable to hide the alarm in his voice. The last time he had dreamt about William Cross he had nearly killed his friend Natasha Romanoff. It took all of his willpower not to examine Darcy for injuries.

"You were screaming," Darcy explained, "it's a good thing no one else is here otherwise I'm pretty sure the librarian would have kicked us out. Fortunately, she likes me so she didn't."

"I'm sorry. I should go apologize."

"Oh no you don't, not until you tell me what the hell was going on inside that mind of yours."

He took a sip of his now cold coffee. "Lewis, I'm an assassin…a sniper…whatever you want to call it. I kill people. My dreams aren't exactly puppies and rainbows."

She frowned. "Well, that bites. You want to know what I dreamed about last night?"

"Um…"

"I dreamt that Jane and I were in the Magic School Bus plus Thor, and Eric too. Anyway, we were all listening to the theme song from That 70's Show freaking loud and Thor was pretending to be Kelso. And Eric was Hyde. And Jane was Miss Frizzle."

"I don't know what any of that means," he said seriously.

She shrugged. "Neither do I but it probably has something to do with eating pop tarts for dinner for six nights in a row. That's what happens when you have no life except for making sure a crazed scientist stays alive while she searches for her beefcake. Maybe I'll get Jane to order pizza tomorrow night. You know so I can have some food that isn't a snack-breakfast-thingy."

Clint couldn't help but laugh. "You're insane, you know that?"

"So I've been told but you kind of have to be crazy when your boss chases aliens."

"Hey-"

"Chillax, Barton. There's no one here except for the librarian and I'm pretty sure she can't hear out of one ear. Wanna walk me home so you can stand outside my building being all stalkery?"

"I'm not a stalker. I'm a SHIELD agent. There's a difference."

"Whatever. Are you coming or not? Oh and can you get my bag? It's heavy and I'm tired."

He frowned. "You really don't get how this thing works do you?"

"Like I said, I'll either annoy you until you leave or I'll make you become part of everything."

"I don't remember you saying the second part."

"That's because I just decided it. Bag, please." She grinned at him. Reluctantly, he put her stuff away then carried the bag out to the parking lot where her beat up old truck was.

He followed her home and when she was in the safety of her own apartment he found he was disappointed.

But as he stood outside watching like she had known she would, he couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had had of Cross. Someone who had such dark things in his head shouldn't be around a girl like that.

Even if it was only to keep her safe.

_A/N: So there is chapter two for you. I did a little digging on Hawkeye since I only know him from the films and found out about his main villain guy. I thought he sounded interesting so I'm going to try to incorporate him in there. If everything is not 100% accurate please don't hate me. I tried my best to familiarize myself with him as much as I could. _


	4. Drinking & Darcy

Babysitting Darcy Lewis 

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. 

Chapter Four: Drinking & Darcy

Clint should have known that going to a bar with Darcy would wind up with him in trouble. But it wasn't like he had any choice. He was being paid to follow her so follow her he did…even when it meant going with her to the Welcome Back party that her school was throwing at the local dive bar and she was attending despite the fact that she couldn't drink.

"You know," he said as he sat across from her in her truck, "I shouldn't be letting you do this. It's illegal. I could take that fake I.D. away from you."

"Chillax, Barton. I turn twenty-one in two months. It's no big. Besides, I won't be the only one drinking with a fake I.D. so if you want to arrest 90% of the student body have fun with that. Besides, you're an assassin. I didn't think you did arrests."

"No, but I can shoot people." He grinned, making her look questioningly at him. "And I should have brought my own damn car. I can't believe you talked me into riding with you."

She shrugged. "It was either that or I drive drunk. You wouldn't want that now would you?"

He scratched his head, but didn't say anything. "C'mon. Let's just get this over with."

Darcy hopped out and Clint followed. Loud, country music was playing the way it would for a community college campus party that was being held in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. Yet somehow the fact that Big & Rich was playing didn't stop people from dirty dancing.

Darcy was off into the crowd of people before Clint could see where she went. He tried catching up with her only she seemed to have vanished. Clint swore. The girl was going to drive him crazy.

He tried to make his way through the crowd but found his hand had been grabbed by a blond, twenty-one year-old with big boobs and a fake tan. "Hey there," she said, "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you a teacher or something?"

"Uh…"

The girl smiled. "You're embarrassed. That's so cute! Come on. Let's dance. Then maybe you can by me a-"

Someone cleared their throat behind them making Clint and the girl look to see who it was. Darcy stood there, her lips pursed together and holding a beer in her hand.

"Crystal Morrison. What an unpleasant surprise."

The blond girl glared at her. "Darcy," she said coldly.

"What do you think you're doing here?"

"I'm having fun…something you know nothing about. Why don't you just scamper off and go listen to your crappy indie music?"

"Why don't you go fuck yourself-"Darcy lunged at the girl and Clint managed to grab her before any real damage could occur.

"Whoa, whoa there Pistol. What do you think you're doing?"

"Let me at her!" Darcy insisted. "I'm serious Barton, let me go. I want to beat her ass."

"You can't beat my ass because your family wouldn't be able to afford the law suit that would follow," said Crystal, smiling. "Walk away Lewis. We were in the middle of something."

Clint rolled his eyes. "C'mon Darce. Just forget it. She's not worth it."

"Oh yes, she so is-"

He dragged a struggling Darcy over to the bar where he forced her to sit down. He stood in front of her and lifted her chin up with his hand so that she was looking at him. She pouted. "You could have at least let me hit her once."

"No, I couldn't have. Now you want to tell me what exactly that was back there?"

She sighed. "It's nothing."

"It didn't look like it."

"Fine, but you might want to sit down. It's kind of a long story."

He raised an eyebrow. "You promise you won't go try to kill the blond girl if I do?"

Darcy scowled. "Maybe."

"Lewis…"

"Okay, alright, fine I promise."

"So?"

She sighed. "You know how small this place is?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the economy here hasn't been great for a long time even before the recession hit. There used to be this one place that employed almost everyone, The Morrison Factory."

"Ah, the blonde."

"Yeah, the blonde," said Darcy, "my Dad used to work there. He was an assistant manager. One night he stayed late and saw Mr. Morrison having sex with his secretary. He told Morrison's wife and well…Dad told Morrison's wife so they got a divorce."

"Okay, that explains why she hates you. What's your deal with her?"

"Crystal decided that it was my fault. She made my high school life a living hell. Junior year, she photoshopped my head onto a picture of Pam Anderson then posted it around school. She is evil incarnate and I want to tase her. Or kill her. Or maybe both."

Clint chuckled. "Calm down there Lewis. I'm supposed to keep you safe."

"But I wouldn't be hurting myself. I'd only be hurting her. You want to help? I bet you totes know a gazillion ways to kill people without leaving behind any evidence."

"I don't think Fury would be too happy with me if I used SHIELD training to take out your mean girl. There is something that I can do though."

Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Alright, I'm listening."

"How about I buy you a drink instead?"

She grinned. "I like the way you think."

"Thought you might-barkeep, get this gal a shot of whatever the hell she wants. Keep them coming."

"You're a man after my own heart, Barton."

"I try."

The bartender got her a shot of whiskey, and Clint watched her down a few. Eventually, the drinks were forgotten. Somehow or the other she got him talking about his past.

"So how exactly does one become a trained killer? Because I don't think most little boys grow up dreaming about that." She tossed a pretzel in her mouth from the bowl that was placed in front of them.

Clint already had a few in his hand that he was playing with as he contemplated her words. "It kind of just came to me I guess. I was always a little wayward. My family died when I was just a kid. They tried putting me in an orphanage but uh-my brother and I ran away to the circus instead."

"You've got to be kidding me. The circus? What could you have possibly done at the circus?"

"I was part of this whole bit that involved swords but uh…the guy teaching me ended up being part of some shady stuff."

"Like you'd have to kill me if I told you shady stuff?"

"Pretty much but uh, I was army before SHIELD until they recruited me."

"What about your brother?" Darcy asked. "If he's got arms as good as yours I definitely want to meet him."

Clint stared pointedly at the top of the bar. "He uh…he's gone. He's been gone for a while now."

"Oh," she said so quiet he almost didn't hear it. "You are just a bundle of problems aren't you?"

"You've got no idea Lewis. No idea." He popped a pretzel into his mouth then chewed for a little while just so he could be busy. He almost never talked about his brother…mostly because there was no one who remembered or cared about him. But it hurt like hell either way.

"Want a shot?" Darcy asked. "My treat."

Clint knew that he shouldn't have. He was on the job. Coulson would probably kill him if he found out and he was supposed to be Darcy's ride home. But thinking about his brother made him feel sick so that all he wanted to do was to forget. Drinking was the easiest way to do that.

"Sure." He knew it was a bad idea the moment he said the words.

When Clint woke up later, the first thing he knew was that he had a massive headache. The sun was streaming in through the curtains making him wince. He sat up, not quite sure where he was or what was going on.

The first thing he was aware of that there was a stuffed animal staring at him. A bear? A dog? He wasn't sure. The second thing he was aware of was the smell of pancakes that was wafting in through the door of the mysterious room he was in.

His stomach grumbled, and despite the headache he got up out of the strange bed to go see where the smell was coming from. He was surprised when he found Darcy standing in the kitchen in boxers and a t-shirt cooking.

He took a moment to examine his surroundings. He was in a small, one room apartment with white brick walls and wooden floors. It was done in a hippy sort of style which made him think that Jim Morrison was going to walk in reading poetry at some point.

"Hey," Darcy said when she saw him, "sleep okay?"

He felt his stomach knotting up. He was clothed he knew that much but what did that mean? He had woken up in Darcy's bed, in her apartment.

"Yeah…except for the headache I've got now. What happened?"

"You passed out around about midnight so I took you here. I didn't know where you were staying at otherwise I would have taken you home."

"You didn't drive did you?"

"Chillax. The bartender got one of his guys to give us a ride home. Although my trucks still there so I'm going to have to walk to the lab today which blows but you know, whatever. It was fun. Thanks for making sure I didn't kill Crystal Morrison."

"Anytime," he said. He blinked, trying to ignore the nausea he felt.

She tilted her head to the side. "You look like shit on toast. Want to sit down?"

He wasn't exactly sure what 'shit on toast' meant but he sat down regardless. Darcy flipped over one of the pancakes that she was cooking. "You'd better be happy because I make damn good pancakes. They're the best hangover cure ever."

Clint laughed. "You haven't tried mine yet, Lewis."

She raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what's yours?"

"You expect me to just tell you? Nope. The Barton Hangover Remedy is reserved for special occasions."

"Oh I see how it is. You know, I don't think I will give you any of my special hangover pancakes."

"Hey now, don't be like that Lewis. I drank with you when I was on duty. Coulson is probably going to kill me for it."

"Oh fine, I _guess _you can have some pancakes since you're going to get reamed by agent asshat." She put some pancakes on a plate, turned off the stove, and then gave them to him. "Want anything to drink?"

"Got any OJ?"

"Sure." She poured two cups of it then sat down with him. Clint didn't say anything for a few moments as he tried to adjust to the situation. Something had changed last night. He had been to her home and a line had been crossed.

She wasn't just the girl he was protecting anymore. That of course meant he was screwed.

"You alright there, Barton? You've got a weird look on your face. Please don't throw up on my floor. I really don't want to clean up puke."

He scratched his chin. "Nah, it's nothing. I was just trying to think of some way to explain this to Coulson."

She shrugged. "Just tell him I talked you into it. He can't really do anything to me. He already did the worse thing that he could."

"That would be?"

"He stole my damn IPod."

"Right…" He took another bite of the pancakes. "You know Lewis, these really are damn good pancakes."

"I know, right?" she grinned, then took a bite of her own. Clint realized then that it was the first time anyone had ever made him breakfast before.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. I've been working on trying to figure out exactly how long I want this thing to be and I think I've finally got it. This whole chapters kind of random but I didn't want to do anything with the villain too soon. Plus I wanted to show them getting closer. I just wanted to thank everyone for all the reviews and the follows. There has been a better response to this then I expected which is amazing since this is my first ever Avengers universe fanfic. You've got no idea how much that means to me and I'll try to get the next chapter out asap. **


	5. Uncharted Territory

**Babysitting Darcy Lewis **

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. **

Chapter Five

Uncharted Territory 

Darcy hadn't intended to befriend Clint Barton. But there are some things like getting drunk that you couldn't do without going there. The only problem was that she didn't want "protection". It was ridiculous.

Yeah, there was an evil alien who might or might not still be alive that could possibly kill her. But it was just so weird having someone watch her every move.

She had thought that if she could get Clint to cross the line that maybe he'd quite. But despite drinking and waking up at her house he was still around. Not that she minded so much now.

Clint, when he actually talked, was pretty interesting. He told her stories about his days in the circus, about his days in the military, and once even brought up the famous Natasha Ramonoff aka the Black Widow. He also put up with her bitching about Crystal, about school, about well…_whatever. _Sure maybe he was being paid to do it but she liked to think it was a little more than that.

They got each other.

So somehow she wasn't surprised when Clint started picking her up. "I figured this way you can't go anywhere you're not supposed to," he said by way of an explanation when she got in on the first morning he did it.

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, and it has nothing to do with secretly wanting to spend more time with me and my dazzling good looks?"

He muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch then started the car. It was the weekend so that meant Darcy was spending the day working with Jane at the lab. Or rather watching Jane work at the lab and making sure she actually ate once and a while.

When they got there Jane was unsurprisingly at her desk already buried in work. "You're late."

Darcy huffed. "I am not. I am not scheduled to start until eight in the morning need I remind you. We made that schedule so you couldn't do things like deprive me of sleep when you're in science mode so I could do finals and function properly. The schedule is God. If you want to be mad at something Miss Anal be mad at it."

Jane scowled. "Fine but the schedule can't be a god. It's not Thor."

"You know that's going to get old one of these days," Darcy said. "Have you eaten?"

"I had coffee."

"Janeeeeeee."

Her boss sighed. "Fine, no."

"I'll go to the diner and get some breakfast to go. Say hi to Clint just so he doesn't think you're a Dalek."

"Hi Clint," she said.

Clint nodded. "Dr. Foster."

"Can I get back to work now?" Jane asked hopefully.

Darcy sighed. "Fine but you're eating all of whatever I bring back." Darcy wasn't even sure Jane heard her as she was already doing something sciency on one of the white boards. She looked at Clint. "C'mon. We'd better go. Food will be the only thing that will make her be able to sort out whatever mombo jumbo she's writing up there now."

Clint chuckled. "You know she's pretty scary when she's in scientist mode. How do you deal with it?"

She shrugged as the two of them walked back to Clint's truck. "Mostly I just block her out and shove food or coffee into her mouth."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Has she made any progress finding Thor?"

Darcy shook her head. "No. But if anyone can find a way to get him back it's her."

"I still don't understand how you ended up being her assistant."

"It was either work for her or take my chemistry class over again."

Clint winced. "Yeah, I think I would take working for Foster over chemistry any day."

"Uh-huh."

They pulled up to the diner then went inside. Darcy was annoyed when she saw that Crystal Morrison was sitting at a nearby booth with her boyfriend. Darcy groaned. "Ugh. What is she doing here?"

"Down Lewis," said Clint, "I'm supposed to protect you. I don't want to have to shoot someone because you decided to get into a cat fight. That might be a little hard to explain to Coulson."

"Everything's hard to explain to Coulson."

"Darce." He looked at her warningly.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll be nice…but only if she is."

Clint shook his head. He watched as Darcy ordered them breakfast to go and leaned against a nearby wall until she was done. Crystal Morrison was eyeing him from the booth that she was sitting at. He pointedly ignored her not wanting Darcy to get pissed off.

But Crystal seemed determined to make trouble. The girl got up and walked his way. "Hi," she said, smiling coyly, "don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I was at the welcome back party."

"Oh. Right, I remember. I could never forget someone as good looking as you."

"Uh…aren't you with someone?"

She shrugged. "It's not serious or anything. Besides we're just talking. What's wrong with talking?"

"Nothing I suppose. If it's just talking you're after."

Crystal smiled. "You know you are really, _really _sexy. I'm going to give you my number."

"I don't want your number."

"Oh but I think you do." She grabbed a napkin from a nearby table and scribbled it on there with the pen she had had in her pocket. Then she tried handing it to him.

"Listen here girly, I know you remember me being with Darcy the night of the party. I know you saw me walk in with her. So I don't know what your angle is but I'm not-"Clint paled as he saw the girl in question standing behind Crystal holding a bag of to go food. To say that she was angry would be putting it mildly.

He expected her to react the way she had at the party. But he was surprised when instead of reacting violently she simply stormed out of the diner.

Clint followed her out but had only managed to chase her about a block up when it seemed that she had mysteriously vanished. "Damn it!"

He shouldn't have talked to the girl. He should have ignored her. But Crystal Morrison was a force to be reckoned with. The girl seemed intent on ruining Darcy's life and he was helpless to stop it which was fucking ridiculous considering he was supposed to be the world's greatest marksman. He should have been able to handle a college co-ed.

Not knowing where to look for Darcy he took his truck back to the lab. "Foster!" he called once there.

Jane Foster looked up from where she was buried in research. "Oh. It's you. What is it?"

"Have you seen Lewis?"

She frowned. "I thought she was with you."

Clint scratched his head nervously. "Well she was but…"

"But what?"

"I uh, did something stupid so she…well…"

"She what?"

He sighed. The last thing he wanted to tell Jane Foster was that he might have lost her research assistant not to mention their food. "She ran off."

The scientist tilted her head to the side and scrunched her nose. "What exactly did you do to make her run off?"

Clint glared. "What makes you think I did something?"

"Because you just admitted that you did something stupid. Tell me what that was and maybe I'll help you find her. Otherwise you're on your own."

"This is why I don't like smart people."

Jane smiled. "Do you want to find her or not?"

"Fine, fine...she caught me talking to Crystal Morrison."

She blinked. "Oh."

Clint played with a loose thread on his shirt so that he could have something to do with his hands. The way that she said "oh" made him nervous. He had known getting caught talking to Crystal was bad but just exactly how bad was it? "Are you going to tell me where she is or not?"

Jane bit her lip. "I don't know that I should. Crystal Morrison is THE enemy. Anyone who wants to remain on Darcy's good side should be smart enough not to talk to her."

"It wasn't like I had a choice! The girls like a she-wolf. She just sort of came from nowhere and attacked. I was trying to get her to leave me alone when Darcy came up."

"So you weren't flirting with her?"

"What? No. Christ no. But even if I were why would it piss off Darcy? We're…well…er…"

The pretty scientist chuckled. "That'd be why. Fine. I have an idea of where she might be but I can't guarantee that she'll be there."

"Just tell me. Coulson will have my ass if something's happened to her."

"Try the political section of the library. She hides out there when things get too much."

"Political section of the library, right, thanks Dr. Foster," said Clint.

"Anytime. Oh and Agent Barton?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Just keep in mind that I know how to kill people and not leave a trace."

Clint chuckled and decided to take her warning as her blessing. He left the lab and drove directly to the library.

The library of Puente Antiguo didn't have much to it. So all it took to find Darcy was for Clint to ask directions to the political section. He found her with her knees pulled up to her chest reading _Age of Reason _by Thomas Paine.

Her face was buried in the book and he was surprised when he heard her sniffling. "Lewis?"

"What the hell?" she looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her nose was running. "How did you even find me?"

He sighed. "Jane."

"I'm going to taze her."

"Don't do that. I might have to take that thing away from you then. Besides I would have found you on my own eventually. It just would have taken a lot longer." He leaned against the bookshelf and stared down at her. "I was trying to get her to leave me alone you know."

Darcy sighed. "I know."

"So why'd you run?"

"Because it…I just…" She stretched her legs out and placed her book on the ground as though she couldn't explain without being comfortable. "She gets everything. She always has. That's how it works. When I saw you talking to her I just thought…well great, there's something else she's going to take from me. You're supposed to keep me safe yet there you are hurting me. I didn't want to be around when that happened."

Clint sank down to the ground so that he was sitting next to her. "Nobody's ever going to take me from you Darce. I'll always be there for you. You got that?"

She sniffled as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "I guess."

He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. She smelled like honey. He felt his heart racing like he was some teenager and hoped that she couldn't hear it.

Clint had never gotten close with anyone he'd protected before. He'd always seen their lives from a distance. But he was part of hers now. He knew this. She was not just another job.  
There was no going back.

He had known it the morning he had woken up with a killer hangover to a girl making him breakfast in her kitchen. Coulson was going to kill him. He was surprised he hadn't already.

Somewhere along the way though he seemed to have decided that he didn't give a damn what Coulson thought which motivated his next course of action, making him pull away from Darcy and lean in so he could give her a kiss. She made a surprised squeak when his lips fully covered hers but he was pleasantly surprised when her body went limp in his arms. They stayed like that for what seemed an eternity until finally the two of them came up for air.

Darcy grinned goofily up at him. "It's about damn time Barton. All of this sexual tension was driving me nuts."

He chuckled then kissed her again.

**A/N:** Oh my gosh. You've got no idea how much you all rock. I've gotten **13 **wonderful reviews on this story, its on **27 **favorite lists and **71 **alerts. That's just amazing. Everyone keeps on telling me that they're in character which makes me really happy because nothing irritates me more then to read a fic and have characters act completely different from how they would. Things are kind of crazy right now because I've got finals coming up so it might take a while to get the next chapter out but I definitely will try to get it out as soon as I can. Anyway I just wanted to thank you all so much for reading. It means a lot.

Love n' stars,

Cambria


	6. The Past Comes Knocking

Babysitting Darcy Lewis 

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

Chapter Six

The past comes knocking

Clint knew that he isn't supposed to avoid Coulson's calls. But he didn't particularly feel like getting his ass reamed because he kissed the girl he was supposed to be protecting. He just wanted to enjoy being with Darcy. He returned Coulson's call late at night, when he knew his boss wouldn't be up, and let him know he was alive. He didn't mention anything regarding Darcy.

After the kiss in the library he took her out to dinner. There wasn't much in the way of restaurants in the small town but Darcy insisted she didn't need anything fancy. So they ate out at a tiny, Mexican restaurant that had a mariachi band.

They both ordered fajita's, beers, then sat there eating more chips then they should have because the salsa was so good. At one point his phone rang but he ignored it.

"Avoiding agent asshat?" Darcy asked with a knowing smile.

He shifted awkwardly. "Not exactly."

"How can you 'not exactly' avoid someone?"

"I let him know that I was alive. If you go too long without checking in they send out a whole squad on a rescue mission."

"Well we wouldn't want that now would we?"

He shook his head. "No, we wouldn't."

She leaned into kiss him and he grinned like a little kid. Darcy laughed as she pulled away. "Smiling makes you look about twelve. It's cute."

"I'm not sure how I should take that."

"It's a compliment. Trust me. Most the time you've got scowly face on."

"I don't scowl."

"Yeah you do. You do it a lot actually. I'm going to have to change that."

Clint shook his head and took a drink of his beer. "You can try darlin', but I've got more demons then even the best shrinks in the world knew what to do with."

Darcy tilted her head to the side. "Is that a challenge Barton?"

"Only if you want it to be Darce."

She grinned mischievously then started swaying her hips to the mariachi music. She was wearing jeans that hugged her curves in all of the right places and a purple tank top that was low cut. She wagged her finger at Clint as she tried to get him to join her but Clint only shook his head he fiddled with chips in his hand.

"C'mon Barton, you're dancing with me."

"No. Lewis, you don't get it. I can't dance."

"Can't or don't because those are two very different things."

He sighed. "Lewis-"

"I won't take no for an answer Barton."

She shook her hips a little bit more then. Barton shook his head then reluctantly got to his feet. The two of them danced in the middle of the restaurant. They were the only ones doing it but they didn't care.

It was just them.

Clint brushed her cheek with his fingers and cupped her chin in his hands. He went in for a kiss but stopped as he saw a familiar figure sitting at a table across from them.

It was Cross.

William Cross, the man who had turned traitor that he had killed with the laser for an eye. Every muscle in Clint's body tensed. "Darcy," he said, "we've got to get out of here."

"Oh come on. We haven't even eaten dinner yet. You don't dance that bad either."

"Darcy we've really got to get out of here."

"Why? I'm not going unless you give me a reason."

"Darcy-"

Cross was getting up from where he was sitting. He was walking towards them. Darcy looked at him with a scrunched up nose and without thinking Clint squeezed her hand tightly and ran to the door.

She shouted at him to stop but he didn't until they were in his truck and speeding away from the restaurant. "Clint what the hell?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry Darcy. I'm so, so sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"I never should have kissed you yesterday. I never should have-"

"Clint I need some sort of explanation that makes sense as to why you just ruined our semi-date thing."

"I saw someone I wasn't supposed to see. He was sitting there. He was alive and…"

"Pull the fuck over and tell me what's going on."

Clint stared at her as he sped down the streets of the small town. "Sorry Darce," he said as he used one hand to knock her unconscious. He couldn't have her asking questions. If she knew about Cross she would never think of him the same way again.

He didn't want to see the look on her face when she realized he was a killer.

He drove as fast as he could all the way to the New Mexico branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. He carried her inside bridal style. Phil was there the moment that he walked in.

"Barton!" Phil Coulson was actually angry. That was saying something since most of the time he was the calmest person that Clint ever knew. "Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering my calls? Why are you carrying an unconscious Miss Lewis?"

"Cross," he said putting Darcy down in a chair. "Cross was alive."

"Alive?" said Phil. "Agent Barton you know that's not possible. You killed him."

"Damn it Coulson! We just met ancient Norse gods that are really aliens. Do you think me seeing someone that's dead is that far of a stretch?"

Phil locked eyes with him. "Tell me what happened."

"We…" he sighed. "We were out together…dinner…"

"I already knew that Agent Barton. Why don't you tell me the things that I don't know?"

Clint ran his hands through his hair as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Cross was there. He was at the restaurant sitting behind us. I saw him with my own eyes."

"Are you sure? I know your history."

He glared at his boss. "I know what I saw. Cross was there. He was there behind Darcy."

"Okay, okay Barton," said Coulson, "what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to have someone else take over watching her for a while. Just until I figure out what's going on with Cross."

"I was going to suggest a replacement anyway given the change in your…situation. Who would you prefer?"

Clint thought about it for a second. "Can you spare Tasha?"

Phil sighed. "Not really…but that won't stop her. I'll call her in."

"Thank you Coulson."

"Anything for the best," said Phil, "Although I should probably be trying to stop you."

"I wouldn't recommend it."

"I'll get her home Barton. Just be careful."

He said nothing. Then without even a glance at Darcy he left the building.

He didn't look at her because he didn't want to risk saying goodbye.

**A/N: Okay so this is really short and I apologize for that but it's getting down to the last few weeks of school before winter break so I have no time whatsoever. I wanted to thank everyone again for reading and reviewing. You are all awesome! **

**Love n' stars, **

**Cambria **


	7. Dark Thoughts

Babysitting Darcy Lewis 

Disclaimer: I absolutely nothing. 

Chapter Seven

Dark Thoughts

Anyone who wasn't an idiot knew that you didn't piss off Darcy Lewis. Clint Barton had clearly not gotten that particular memo otherwise he wouldn't have a) knocked her out on their first ever date b) left her to go chase off some mysterious evil villain dude c) left her in the hands of a female assassin she was pretty sure he'd dated or at the very least had sex with.

As Agent Asshat explained what had happened in very vague terms while in the New Mexico SHIELD office, Darcy nursed the killer headache she'd gotten courtesy of Barton she tried to avoid the Black Widows stare. But Natasha Romanoff must not have been human because she looked at her without even blinking once. And that made Darcy nervous.

Clint had talked a little about the woman he considered his best friend but he had used words like "lethal" and "red in her ledger" to describe her. That didn't comfort Darcy considering she was sort of dating her best friend.

That was if she still wanted to speak to Clint after he got back from saving the world or whatever. Because they'd been going somewhere and it had been good for about five seconds then he'd run.

Not to mention knocked her out beforehand.

"Miss Lewis," said Agent Coulson, "Are you listening to me?"

Darcy blinked. "Do you have any aspirin?"

"Miss Lewis are you joking? Because I'm afraid you don't understand the gravity of the situation. You have been targeted-"

"If I don't understand the gravity of the situation it's because you're not telling me the truth. So far you've basically said that I'm in danger but you haven't told me from what. Furthermore agent asshat, I just got knocked out by one of your top assassins and my head hurts. So can I get some freaking aspirin or what?"

Phil looked stunned. "Agent asshat?"

There was a sound that Darcy thought was chuckling but she wasn't sure because it was coming from Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow had liked her joke. Well, at least she might stand a better chance of not being killed by her if she thought she was funny.

"Here," said the other woman pulling a bottle of aspirin from somewhere on her person that Darcy didn't even see. "Rule number 1 of being an agent-always be prepared. Villain's like to talk. That leads to a lot of headaches."

Darcy stared at her in surprise. "Uh…thanks." She took two because Clint packed a punch. Then she looked back at Coulson. "Just tell me this. Is Clint still alive?"

"Agent Barton checked in at 1600. He's fine and looking up some old contacts. Agent Romanoff will be taking over your protection detail."

"I still don't understand why I'm being protected in the first place. It isn't as if I've been blabbing how I spent my summer vacation chasing aliens."

"No but there was that one photo of Thor on Facebook."

Darcy scowled. "It was one picture and anyway your minions took it down after you stole Jane's lab equipment. Not to mention the photos of my graduation party."

"There was underage drinking involved."

"And that's your business how?"

Agent Coulson huffed. "It was illegal."

"I had a picture of me doing a headstand with a beer bottle in my mouth. It was awesomesauce and you deleted it."

"You called me Agent Asshat."

Darcy groaned. "I got knocked out by one of your agents."

"She wins," said Natasha, smiling.

She grinned. "Thanks."

Natasha smiled. "Not a problem, Miss Lewis."

Coulson shook his head. "Agent Romanoff please escort Miss Lewis home. And Miss Lewis?"

"Huh?"

"Give me that aspirin."

"Why?"

"You're giving me a headache," said Coulson, grabbing the pills from her.

Darcy smiled. "I feel much better now."

"C'mon Lewis. I'll give you a ride home," said Natasha. Darcy got up and gladly let the Black Widow get her out of there.

The drive back to her town was a long one and she immediately regretted her decision to let Natasha drive her. The female assassin was somehow managing to not hit anything while looking at her.

"Coulson planned this spectacularly," said Natasha, making Darcy raise an eyebrow.

"Planned what spectacularly?"

"Clint needed a purpose. You're giving him one."

"Huh?"

For the first time during the whole drive Natasha looked away from her. "The thing about being an assassin is that your whole job is taking life away from people. Sometimes you start to think that you don't deserve a life. If you let it then it will get the best of you. He was at that point."

Darcy blinked. "What the f does that have to do with me? Coulson just made Clint watch me so I wouldn't go blabbing to the world that I'd seen aliens. Although I notice they didn't give Jane the security detail but I figured that's just because she's dating a Norse god who could summon lightening to fry anyone that hurts her."

Natasha just smiled. "Coulson is really, really, good."

Still confused Darcy frowned and muttered that he was an asshat. Then she asked the question that she'd been dying to but hadn't been able to bring herself to with Phil there. "Miss Romanoff…"

"Call me Tasha."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"A month ago if he'd found out his archenemy was still alive he would have let him kill him. Now he's determined to off the son of a bitch."

"Um…"

"Yeah Darcy, he's going to be okay."

Despite the fact that she still wasn't totally sure if Clint chasing after someone he intended to kill was a good thing she still felt a bit better. And with the knowledge that there was a good possibility he'd actually come home she used her arm as a pillow and slept for the rest of the ride.

Maria Hill sat on a park bench with Clint Barton trying to understand just exactly what he said. "You can't be serious Barton."

"Hill would I lie about something like this?"

She couldn't help but be skeptical. "You do have a history with PTSD. Are you sure this isn't one of those times?"

"I'm positive." He looked so sure but she knew Barton's history. He had only recently been let back into the field after his incident with Cross. He'd just found out about the existence of aliens. That was enough to make anyone start seeing things.

"Cross was dead. You saw him die. It's in the report."

"Hill we live in a world that just discovered the existence of aliens. Do you really think it's that crazy someone could come back from the dead?"

"That doesn't mean you have to go after him. Why don't you let SHIELD handle it?"

Barton narrowed his eyes in a way that made Hill clench the arm rest next to her. She wasn't scared of many things but a person would have to be stupid not to be scared of an angry Clint Barton.

"He was sitting behind Darcy," said Clint, "right behind her. I let him take away everything once. I'm not going to let him take away everything like he did last time. So are you going to help me or not Hill?"

Maria knew that she was going to regret this decision but she didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't. "I'll help."

"Thank you," he said, looking relieved.

"But I'm only helping because Fury would be pissed if you ended up killed and I don't think all of the aspirin in the world could get rid of that headache."

He chuckled and Maria realized it was the first time Barton had ever laughed in her presence. It had to have been the girl he was protecting. It was always a girl.

She'd seen it happen a lot with agents charged with protecting someone. She'd been through it herself not that she ever had a shot in hell of being on the receiving end of it. But happiness was a rare thing when you worked at SHIELD and if anyone had it for even the smallest of moments that was worth fighting for.

So Maria would help Clint track down William Cross even if she didn't believe him.

After Natasha dropped Darcy off at home she went up to her apartment. She needed to study so inside she sat down at her desk and tried to get some work done. But it was hard as her mind kept on drifting off to Clint.

She liked him and yet she wasn't sure it was such a good idea now. She had watched him sleep the one time he had fallen asleep at the library and it had been troubled. Troubled was putting it lightly.

Would it always be like that if she were with him? Everything intense, broody, and dark?

Darcy wasn't sure if she could handle that. She wasn't a serious kind of girl. She was the comic relief. She had never had a real relationship.

She just sort of had flings.

But she knew that anything with Barton couldn't be a fling. For all of his toughness he was probably just as easy to break as she was.

Then there was the issue that he was chasing off after a mad man to keep her safe. What happened if he didn't come back? She wasn't sure she could handle that.

Her books sat forgotten on her desk. Knowing that she probably wouldn't get any work done she got up and went to get something from the fridge. She grabbed a piece of left over pizza, a soda, then took a seat on her couch and turned on the television. She needed to clear her head a bit. Hopefully watching something stupid would help.

She settled on some reality show whose name she didn't even know then ate her pizza. As she watched she noticed something was wrong with the screen.

There was a red light in the reflection.

Darcy got up to stare closer at it. She couldn't even tell where the light was coming from. Curious, she looked behind her to see if it could have been coming from something else in the living room.

There was nothing that she could find but she noticed that her window was open. A slight chill went through the room as a breeze had started up outside. She couldn't remember having left it open but that was the only explanation for it.

She closed the window and then, deciding that she was tired, she went to bed. But the red light still bothered her. There was no reason for it.

Clint sat in the hotel room he'd gotten in Washington waiting for Maria to come back with answers. Considering all of the SHIELD resources she had it shouldn't have taken that long. But he kept on seeing Cross sitting behind Darcy as he waited so it seemed longer than it really was.

There were eight knocks on the door which was the signal that he and Hill had agreed on. He jumped up from his bed and ran to the door.

When he opened it he was met with Maria's grave face. "Well?" he said.

"You were right. Cross isn't dead."

"But how?"

"It was his twin brother you killed. Cross survived."

"So he's alive?"

"Yeah he's alive. And Barton?"

"What?"

"He's been following you."

Clint felt as though his entire world had been kicked out from underneath him. William Cross had been following him which meant he knew about Darcy.

And Clint was busy chasing after him instead of being with her. "Damn it all to hell." He ignored Maria Hill's shouts as he ran out of the room.

**A/N: Oh wow you guys. I'm so happy you all are liking this story. Thank you for all of the follows, reviews, and favorites. **


	8. Not A Good Idea

Babysitting Darcy Lewis 

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. 

Chapter Eight 

"Not a good idea"

Darcy Lewis was not an idiot. She might not have been a super smart scientist like Jane but she was smart in other ways. For instance she knew when something was wrong.

She knew when something was wrong when she started noticing little things disappearing. The first thing to go was her sweater. It happened when she was at the library. She'd been studying then she'd gone to leave when she noticed that it was gone.

Needless to say she'd left cold and pissed.

Then the next night she fell asleep with a cup of water on the coffee table as she'd been watching some bad T.V. movie of the week. When she'd woken up the next morning with a crick in her neck the cup had been placed in the sink.

But the thing that happened that really pissed her off happened when she was working with Jane. They'd spent the whole of the previous day transcribing particle data. Then when Jane had wanted it all of their work (which she distinctly remembered putting away in the filing cabinet) had disappeared.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed as she rummaged through the filing cabinet again for what was the millionth time.

Natasha Romanoff looked over from where she was standing not too far off making sure that Darcy was okay. "Is everything alright Miss Lewis?" Natasha asked.

"What'd you break now?" Jane asked as she poked her head up from her work.

"I didn't do anything," Darcy hissed, "Someone is taking my freaking stuff."

"What do you mean?" Jane asked.

"The particle data that we spent all day yesterday transcribing is _gone." _

Jane's eyebrows rose. "What do you mean gone? Darcy it can't just be gone. I saw you put it in the cabinet."

She rolled her eyes. "I know I put it in the cabinet Jane. I remember putting it in the cabinet. So there's only one explanation. Someone took it."

"What makes you think that?" Natasha asked.

Darcy sighed. "You're going to think that I'm crazy."

"Just tell us."

She closed the drawer then leaned up against the filing cabinet. "The other day I went to study at the library. When I finished studying my jacket was gone. Then the other night at home I fell asleep and found that the cup that I'd had on the coffee table was put in the sink, now this."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that you didn't just forget where you put them?"

Darcy shook her head. "My stuff might look like a bomb just went off in it most of the time but I _always _know where it is."

Natasha put a hand on Darcy's shoulder. "Has anything else strange happened?"

She thought about it. The only thing she could think of was the red dot that she had seen at one point but somehow she didn't think that was important. After all how could a dot be dangerous?

"No. Just that but I know when something hinky is going on and when my stuff starts missing especially particle data I spent time transcribing then something hinky is _definitely _going on."

"Alright then, would you like me to tell Agent Coulson about it?"

Darcy swallowed. "Um…"

"Miss Lewis?"

"No. Not just yet. I'll keep on looking for that particle data. Maybe Jane's right. Maybe I misplaced it or something."

Jane scrunched her nose as though she didn't believe a word that Darcy said but kept her mouth shut. Natasha didn't seem too convinced either but only nodded in response. "Alright," she said, "if that's what you want."

"Yeah, its totes fine," she lied, "I'm probably just over re-acting or something."

She looked through the whole of the filing cabinet just to make sure that she hadn't by chance forgotten where it was. When she came up empty handed she went to go sit down next to Jane. The scientist looked up from her work.

Natasha had gone to the bathroom for a moment leaving the two of them alone.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" her friend asked. "Because I've never seen you get so upset over your stuff missing. Usually you just shake it off."

Darcy clicked the tip of her pen nervously. "I'm fine. Just nervous about Clint being gone and besides, you know how I am I over exaggerate."

"I guess I understand. Thor might be on another planet but at least I know he's safe. Clint's here but you don't have a clue where he is or what he's doing."

"No," said Darcy, "I don't." She avoided Jane's gaze by staring at the floor because the last thing she wanted was for her friend to see how worried she was.

But Jane was too clever for her own good and saw that Darcy was more worried than she was letting on. "Darce, you're really worried about him aren't you?"

She tapped her pen against her hand. "I can't help it. He's out there on some whole revenge thing chasing after some guy that's supposed to be dead. He had Natasha come in so that I would be protected so there's a good chance that this psychopath is going to come after me too. You try acting normal when your boyfriends freaking archenemy probably wants to kill you."

Jane blinked. "You know if you had told me when I was little that when I grew up I'd be dating a god and my best friend's boyfriend would have an archenemy I would have said that you were crazy."

Darcy couldn't help but laugh. "Welcome to life Jane. Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Do you want to stay over? We can sleep on the lab's roof like we did that one time."

"You mean that one time I convinced you to let me bring tequila to work and you passed out after you forced me to go 'stargazing' with you?"

Jane blushed. "Um yeah, like that only without the tequila."

"Really, because I was thinking that tequila would be the only thing that would make things better right now."

The scientist grinned. "I'll get some from my trailer."

Natasha had come back from the bathroom then just as Jane had been going to get the drinks. "I should probably say that since Miss Lewis might possibly have a known killer after her you most likely shouldn't be doing this."

"Oh, um, right of course," said Jane looking guilty.

Natasha grinned. "Notice that I didn't say that you _couldn't _do it."

Both women grinned at each other. "I'll go get the tequila then," said Jane.

"Are you going to get your drink on with us Tasha?"

"Not while I'm on duty Miss Lewis. But when Agent Barton gets back we're going to be doing shots, lots of them."

"I like you're way of thinking Romanoff." Darcy grinned then Jane came back with the tequila.

The three of them made their way up to the roof. Natasha sat nearby watching them. Darcy tried to convince the spy to sit closer but she only shook her head replying that she was on duty.

Darcy and Jane centered their chairs around the small bonfire that was there. Darcy lit it with the lighter she kept in her pocket then Jane opened the bottle of tequila.

They downed it in little, quick gulps since they didn't have shot glasses with them (because they technically weren't supposed to be drinking at the lab per S.H.I.E.L.D's instructions and didn't want to have evidence). "Speaking of your alien beefcake have you heard from Thor at all?" Darcy asked.

Jane shook her head and took a swig from the bottle. "Sometimes he comes to me in my dreams. But lately it's been quiet. I think he's off searching for Loki."

"I thought Loki swan dived off of the rainbow bridge thing."

"He did but Thor doesn't want to believe he's dead. I've tried convincing him to move on but he won't, something about brother's intuition."

"_Right," _said Darcy, "Thor does remember that his brother was responsible for getting him sent to earth, nearly took out an entire town and tried to kill his father?"

Jane winced. "Thor's very forgiving."

"That's one word for it." Darcy took the bottle from her and took a swig. "Dumbass is another."

"Darcy!"

"Well it's true! I'm sorry but if my brother went homicidal then disappeared I wouldn't be off looking for him. I'd be having a dance party. No one needs that kind of crazy in their lives."

Jane rested her head on her fist. "I know. But Thor thinks that Loki just needs forgiveness."

"Tell Thor next time you 'dream' about him that he's an idiot and that I'm going to taze him if we ever get this whole rainbow bridge thing fixed."

Her friend laughed. "I'll just make sure Clint takes away your tazer before that happens."

"Oh no you won't, the tazer is my life."

"Shouldn't Clint be your life?"  
"We've only just started dating and he isn't here right now. Until he gets his sorry agent butt back here Sparky takes priority over him."

Jane smiled. "Poor Clint."

"Well that's what happens when he leaves me to go off on some revenge mission."

There was a slight chuckle from where Natasha was sitting. Darcy had almost forgotten that the other spy was sitting there. "Ooops," she apologized, "sorry Tasha."

Natasha smiled from where she sat. "Don't worry Darce. It's completely understandable. Clint's a pain in my ass too."

Darcy chuckled. "Tasha you're a girl after my own heart."

The spy smiled. There was a sound of a ringing noise then. Natasha pulled out her phone. "I'll be back in just a second," said Natasha.

She got up and went to take the phone call not far off. Darcy smiled and looked to Jane. "You know she's not so bad-"Darcy froze as she saw a man standing by Jane with a gun pointed to her head.

The man had a laser for one of his eyes. "Hello Darcy," he said with a twisted smile that left her feeling as though a chill had come over her.

Jane was shaking in her chair.

"You don't want to do that dude," said Darcy, "you might have a gun but there's a killer assassin not far and when she comes back she's total going to kick your ass."

The man laughed. But it was a laugh totally and completely without humor. "I'm afraid your assassin has just been knocked out by the sonic waves that I sent to her cell phone earlier. If you look over at the other side of the roof then you will find her knocked out."

Darcy stood up but as soon as she did the tequila went directly through her. She found she could not stay up very long and fell back into her chair. "Ooof. Damn tequila."

The stranger with the gun laughed. "Well I can at the very least see why Agent Barton likes you. You've got a sense of humor. Even in the face of death you laugh."

Darcy swallowed. She should have known immediately who it was the moment she had seen him with the gun. William Cross had found her.

"You found me."

He laughed. "I never left town. Barton just jumps to conclusions quickly. He always did."

Darcy thought that if she could keep him talking she might be able to reach for her taser. If she could knock him out then she could save Jane.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Barton ruined my life. I intend on returning the favor," said Cross.

"I thought he killed you." Her hand was inching towards her pocket. She just had to hope that he didn't notice her doing it.

"He didn't kill me. He killed my brother. My brother wanted to keep me safe. That's what brothers do. It should be what lovers do as well but it seems that yours has forsaken you."

Darcy went to make a grab for her taser but found that it had already been taken. William Cross smiled at her. "Oh no you didn't," said Darcy, "you did _not _just take my taser. I don't mind the sweater, or moving my cup, or even the freaking data that Jane and I compiled together-"

Jane made a whimpering sound and Darcy sighed. "Okay _Jane _minds the data that we compiled together getting stolen but no one, and I mean NO ONE gets to take my freaking taser."

"But someone did," said William.

Darcy opened her mouth to say something but she didn't get to as she felt a sharp pain going through her. The last thing she remembered thinking before she blacked out was that tasers really did _freaking hurt. _

Also that drinking tequila at work had been a really bad idea and that she totally was never doing that again, especially with her boyfriend's archenemy on the loose.

A/N: Sorry this took so long to put up everyone. I had a problem trying to figure out what to do next. This story is going a little faster then I intended it to. Oh well. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit longer if I can. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and put it on their favorites list. It means a lot. It really does. Hope you all had a good holiday season and have a Happy New Year. I can't believe that it's 2013!


End file.
